Anne Hollerbach
anne@hollerbach.org

*blush*
why, thank you sir.

>That hammer....50ton? ;-)

Nope, not in this case. I used my Bonny Doon delrin deadblow hammer, the smaller size, which I purchased from Tevel at Allcraft. Purely manual manipulation -- I needed to place single blows pretty carefully, and since I don't have a single dap that fits the dome exactly, I could not just squish the thing into urethane with the press. Most of the forming was actually done over air, using the space between the top of various large daps and the center of the piece. The daps' role was to preserve the circular shape and develop the curve of the sides. I used two of my big BD daps that would normally have been held in the master tool holder, but this time they worked in a vise. I also needed to be extremely conservative about the state of the metal; it work hardened very fast and I would surely have blown right through it, even with a manual press. Sometimes there is no equivalent for the fingertip whiskers.

One of the things I like about these roundels: how they are made is not entirely evident in the final form. Keeps 'em guessing...

well...at least until they ask me about it....
:-)